The decision was announced a day after a Colorado firm, citing a “conflict of interest,” told the Met Council it was backing out of a plan to study options for rerouting western Minneapolis and St. Louis Park trains.

A shallow tunnel through Minneapolis’ Kenilworth rail and bike trail corridor would cost less than rerouting freight trains through St. Louis Park for the Southwest Light Rail Transit line, according to projections released Wednesday by the Metropolitan Council.

Minnesota is being asked to spend as much as $45 million to improve freight rail west of the metro to help shippers who could wind up running their trains alongside the Southwest Light Rail Transit line or on a controversial reroute path.

In late December, TC&W President Mark Wegner wrote Hennepin County reiterating longstanding concerns with plans to move freight rail traffic off of the Kenilworth Corridor, where they have run since 1988.